Mary Margaret Funk
Sr. Mary Margaret Funk, OSB, is an American writer and advocate of interreligious dialogue. Her published works include a trilogy of books on "The Practice of the Spiritual Life".
In 1993 Funk spoke at the Parliament of the World's Religions. From 1994-2004 she was Executive Director of the Monastic Interreligious Dialogue Board, which coordinates the organization that aims to foster interreligious and intermonastic dialogue. In this capacity she coordinated a number of events, notably the Gethsemani Encounters and Benedict's Dharma Conference. In 1995 she traveled to India and Tibet on the 6th Spiritual Exchange Program.
Funk is currently Mother Abbess of the Benedictine community at Kylemore Abbey, Ireland; it is the oldest such community in the country. The 19th-century Kylemore Castle and its surrounding gardens is both home to the resident Benidictine nuns and an attraction to thousands of tourists each year.
A former Prioress and still a current member of Our Lady of Grace Monastery in Beech Grove, Indiana, Funk directs the School of Lectio Divina at the adjacent Benedict Inn.
Books
- Into the Depths: Memoirs of Bolivia (2011)
- Before the Burning Bush: Through the Revelatory Texts of Scripture, Nature and Experience (2010)
- Humility Matters: The Practice of the Spiritual Life (2005)
- Tools Matter For Practicing the Spiritual Life (2004)
- What Catholics Should Know About Islam (2004)
- Islam Is: An Experience of Dialogue and Devotion (2003)
- El Corazon En Paz: La Sabiduria de los Padres Del Desierto (2001)
- Thoughts Matter: The Practice of the Spiritual Life (1999)
- A Mind at Peace (1999)
Other works
- Into Iraq: Dispatches From an America at War; A Nun's Prayer (Letter to the Editor, New York Times, March 21, 2003.)[1]